


Lipstick

by lesbianvampire



Category: Generation X (Comic), X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:35:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22767103
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianvampire/pseuds/lesbianvampire
Summary: When Monet discovers that Jubilee's never been kissed, she arranges a game of spin-the-bottle with the other Generation X kids to fix that. Takes place during Generation X (1994).
Relationships: Jubilation Lee/Monet St. Croix
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	Lipstick

Jubilee gazed into the vanity mirror in Monet’s bedroom, her eyes fixed on the reflection of Little Miss Perfect St. Croix herself, who was applying makeup. She watched as Monet smiled a false smile and swept blush onto her cheeks, giving them a rosy glow. As if she needed even more of an ego boost, Jubilee thought. Still, she had to admit Monet looked good in makeup. She wasn’t sure how her friend managed to make herself look even more gorgeous than usual, but somehow she pulled it off. 

Monet uncapped and untwisted a lipstick, dark red like Penance’s skin. She leaned in close to the mirror and began to apply it. Jubilee rolled her eyes.

“Why bother getting all dolled up? It’s not like you’re going anywhere tonight.”

Monet dabbed at the corner of her mouth. “Maybe not, but it’s never a bad idea to practice. After all, practice makes perfect.”

Perfect. The only word to describe Monet St. Croix. From her lush, black hair to her smooth, dark complexion to her athletic figure, she never looked anything less than perfect, and she knew it, too. It didn’t exactly help that her mutation made her crazy powerful, giving her the ability to fly, punch stuff really hard, and read someone’s mind without breaking a sweat. On top of all that, she was scarily intelligent, and, although Jubilee would never admit it, she had a decent sense of humor. At first, Jubilee had thought she was jealous of Monet’s beauty and skills, but after a while, she’d begun to suspect the feeling wasn’t jealousy. Rather, it was a feeling better known by another name. She was just too afraid to use it. 

“Monet, baby, don’t you know lipstick is for clowns?” Jubilee responded.

“You would know, Jubilation, wouldn’t you?” she replied without looking up. Jubilee stuck her tongue out at her. 

“And anyway,” Monet continued, “lipstick is trés important. It draws attention to the lips, and lips are used for kissing.”

“Uh, yeah, no duh, princess. What do you think I am, stupid?”

“I’m not sure you want me to answer that.”

Jubilee sighed. “Wouldn’t make any difference for me, anyway. Nobody’s ever wanted to kiss me, and I don’t think putting on a little lipstick’s gonna change that.” 

Monet arched an eyebrow. “You’ve never been kissed?”

“Weren’t you listening? Of course not.” Jubilee tried to sound light and carefree, but her shoulders slumped. She wasn’t sure what it was about her, but boys never seemed to notice her as anything more than a friend. She was lucky not to get shunned outright for being a mutant. She wasn’t even interested in any boys she knew, but she couldn’t deny it stung when she thought about being unwanted. 

“Well, then,” Monet said, putting down her lipstick, “we had better fix that, now, hadn’t we?”

Jubilee gave her a dubious look. “Uh-huh. And how d’you plan to do that?” 

Monet smiled slyly. “Oh, I have an idea.”

Fifteen minutes later, the five of them were gathered in Monet’s bedroom.

“Spin the bottle, huh?” Angelo exclaimed. “I love this game! ‘Course, I’ve never actually played it before…”

Paige caught Jubilee’s eye. She gave her a look like, boys. Jubilee shrugged as if to say, what can you do?

“Me neither,” Everett admitted. He glanced around nervously. “But, um, I’m sure it’ll be a blast.”

Jubilee noticed how he avoided meeting Monet’s gaze. She felt a familiar pang in her chest. She didn’t even like Everett in that way, yet it still hurt to be reminded that he liked Monet. But how could she blame him? If she was a boy, she would choose Monet over herself any day. 

“Speaking of blasts, why isn’t Jono here?” Angelo asked. “I’m sure there’s at least one lady he’d like to kiss.” He not-so-subtly winked at Paige. She glared at him, her face tomato red. 

“Are you actually as idiotic as you seem?” Monet asked incredulously. 

“He hasn’t got a mouth, ya dumdum,” Jubilee pointed out. 

“Oh. Right.” Angelo looked guiltily at Paige, who was pouting. “Sorry.”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she said through gritted teeth. “Can we just get on with the game?”

“Certainly,” Monet replied. She telepathically lifted a bottle from her dresser and placed it on the ground.

Jubilee picked up the bottle and squinted at the label. “Sparkling water? Really?” 

“Oh, hush.” Monet snatched the bottle from her. “Now, everyone sit in a circle.”

The five kids obliged. Monet placed the bottle in the center of the circle. 

“I don’t want any of you telekinetics messing with the bottle,” Jubilee warned, shaking her head. “That includes you, Ev.” He wasn’t inherently telekinetic, but since he was sitting next to Monet, she figured his mutant powers would synch up to Monet’s abilities. She hoped he didn’t get any of her telepathy; or if he did, that he would be kind enough not to listen in on what Jubilee was thinking. 

“Sounds fair,” he said, shrugging.

Monet scoffed. “I would never dream of such a thing.”

“Just making the rules clear,” Jubilee said. “So...who's gonna spin it first?”

“Since we are all gathered in my room,” said Monet, “I think it’s only fair that I go first.”

“Suit yourself,” Jubilee replied, crossing her arms. “Just don’t blame me when it lands on Paige.”

“Hey!” Paige complained. 

Monet spun the bottle. Jubilee watched it intently, looking for any signs of Monet’s tampering, but it just made her dizzy. She blinked a few times and when she opened her eyes again she saw that the bottle had stopped and was pointing at Everett. 

Judging by Monet’s surprised look, she hadn’t done it on purpose. Everett looked even more startled. Was that fear in his eyes? Jubilee couldn’t tell. 

Across the circle, Angelo whistled. “Lucky you!” 

Jubilee mustered a smile and lightly punched Everett on the shoulder. “You got this, Ev!” she said. He nodded, but he still seemed worried.

Monet eyed Everett like a cat about to pounce. “Watch closely, Jubilation,” she said, not taking her eyes off of Everett, “and perhaps you’ll learn something.”

Monet leaned in to kiss him. Jubilee’s stomach churned with emotion: despair, envy, longing, guilt. After a moment, Monet pulled back, looking smug. 

Jubilee made a gagging noise. “Ugh! All I learned from that is what I gotta look at the next time I wanna barf!” 

Everett snorted. The tension had left his face and he seemed much more relaxed. 

Monet put a hand over her heart in mock despair. “Do you truly find me so repulsive?”

Jubilee opened her mouth to respond, but she was suddenly at a loss for words.

I could never find you repulsive. I think you’re beautiful. I think you’re the most beautiful girl in the whole world, she wanted to say. But she shut her mouth without saying any of it at all. She glared at the bottle. 

Stupid bottle. This is all your fault, she thought.

Everett broke the awkward silence. “I dunno about Jubes, but I sure don’t think you’re gross. It’s not every day you get a kiss like that.” 

He nudged Jubilee’s shoulder playfully. “Anyway, isn’t it your turn to spin it?” he asked.

“Sure is!” she replied, trying to muster her usual enthusiasm. “Watch out, ladies and gents, ‘cause here comes Jubilee!”

She spun the bottle. It whirled around and around before slowly coming to a stop. Once again, it was pointed at Everett. 

Angelo groaned. “Come on, Ev! Give someone else a chance!”

“Yeah!” Paige added. “Wait, uh, not that I wanted to kiss....uh, nevermind.”

Everett shrugged. “Hey, it’s not like I did it on purpose.”

He turned to Jubilee. “So, you wanna, um….” He regarded her, smiling shyly. 

Jubilee’s heart leapt into her throat. She could hear her pulse pounding in her ears, louder than the fireworks she could blast from her fingertips. She felt as thought she had somehow gained everything she wanted and nothing at all. 

She glanced at Monet. Her face was haughty, unreadable. She gestured slightly, as if to say, well? Get on with it. 

Jubilee squared her shoulders and turned to Everett, ready for her first kiss. “Let’s do it,” she agreed. “This’ll blow your kiss with Monet right outta the water.”

She leaned in and kissed him. She wasn’t really sure what qualified as a good kiss, so she just tried her best to smush her lips against his and hoped she was doing it right. Everett’s lips were soft, but the kiss wasn’t exactly pleasant. It wasn’t unpleasant, either. It was just....there. And a few seconds later, it was over.

“Woo! Go, Jubelita!” Angelo cheered. 

Jubilee’s face reddened, but she tried to put on a confident smile. “How was that?” she asked.

“It was great!” Everett replied, rubbing his neck. “I’m gonna be honest, when I woke up this morning I was not expecting to be kissed by so many pretty girls. But I guess I shouldn’t complain.” His eyes darted between Jubilee and Monet.

“You really shouldn’t,” Monet agreed. “After all, this was Jubilee’s first kiss, yet she appears to be almost as good as I am.”

“Hey, now!” Jubilee snapped. “No need to be spilling secrets. And who says I’m not better at kissing than you?” Her hands curled into fists, and she willed herself not to give into the temptation of letting loose fireworks the way she sometimes did when she got mad. 

“Oh, please,” Monet snorted, tossing her hair back. “I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you wear so much as lip balm. What makes you think you could compare to me?”

“You think you’re so perfect, huh?” Jubilee got right up in Monet’s face. “You think you’re so much better at it than me? Well, why don’t we find out?” She glared into Monet’s big brown eyes, inches away. 

Jubilee saw Monet’s gaze drop to her lips, then defiantly meet her own. 

“You’re on.” 

Monet kissed her, and Jubilee was swept up by a torrent of emotion, anger and bitterness mixed with a secret, horrible joy mixed with stark terror. She didn’t remember closing her eyes but they were shut, and through her closed eyelids she almost thought she could sense an aura around Monet, like Everett’s rainbow aura when he used his powers, only Monet’s was red, red like her lipstick, red like Penance. But unlike Penance, her lips were soft, and Jubilee thought maybe Monet had a point with the lipstick after all. Too late she remembered she was trying to out-kiss Monet, although it wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyway as Jubilee still had no idea what made one kiss better than another. Even so, she felt pretty certain that this kiss was a lot better than the one she’d shared with Everett. 

Monet pulled away. Jubilee blinked, dazed. Monet’s expression seemed less haughty now and more surprised, almost stunned. She looked around, and Jubilee realized that the others were staring at them in silence. 

“Game’s over,” Monet said abruptly.

“What? Oh, come on!” Paige complained.

“S’all right, Paige,” Angelo said, getting up and reaching out a hand for her. “We can have our own fun without these dorks.”

“That better not be an innuendo,” Paige warned, taking his hand.

“I was talking about checkers! You got a dirty mind, country girl.” The two of them left, still squabbling.

Jubilee glanced at Everett. His eyebrows were drawn together, perplexed. Jubilee felt guilty, though she wasn’t exactly sure why.

“You guys are my friends, and I care about you both,” Everett said quietly. “But the next time you need to work out your issues with each other, please leave the rest of us out of it.” He nodded at Monet and half-shrugged at Jubilee, and walked away. 

Jubilee suddenly noticed she was still very close to Monet. She turned away, her lower lip trembling. 

Monet cleared her throat and smoothed down her hair, even though it looked as neat as always. “Well. I’d say the results of this test are inconclusive. But make no mistake, I’m up for a rematch anytime.”

Despite herself, Jubilee cracked a smile. “Almost sounds like you’re flirting with me.”

Monet scoffed. “As if!” 

She stalked toward the door, but stopped at the doorway. She turned back to face Jubilee and her expression softened. “See you tomorrow, Lee.”

Jubilee nodded. “See you.”

Once Monet was gone, Jubilee closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths to compose herself. She couldn’t get the sensation of kissing Monet out of her mind. She was pretty sure she knew what that meant. Only question was, was she brave enough to face it?

Jubilee stood up and went to the vanity mirror. I’ve faced Sabretooth, she thought. I’ve faced Emplate. I’ve faced Wolvie when the convenience store ran out of his favorite brand of beer. I can acknowledge this truth about myself, even if it changes everything. 

She studied her reflection. Her cheeks were still tinged pink, which didn’t surprise her. Hair was short and messy, just how she liked it. But her lips, she realized with a start, were smudged with just a little bit of Monet’s red lipstick. She grabbed a tissue, then reconsidered. 

Jubilee picked up Monet’s red lipstick, the same one she’d applied earlier. Carefully she removed the cap and untwisted the bottom. She leaned toward her reflection, lips parted, and began applying the lipstick just as she’d seen Monet do so many times. It was trickier than it looked, but after a few minutes, she had applied a full coat of lipstick. She stood up straight and looked herself over once more. Jubilee rarely wore makeup, and she was unused to seeing herself wearing any sort of cosmetics. The color didn’t seem to fit her as well as it did Monet, but she thought the lipstick made her seem more bold, more daring. She looked transformed, and felt it, too. 

“Perfect,” she said.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm @lesbianjubilee on tumblr if you ever wanna talk more about lesbian Jubilee :)


End file.
